Appreciation kills comparison

comparison is a curse, this money monster wants you to do it all the time, have you feel better or worse, depending on who or what you are comparing yourself or accumulated material items to.  The energetic feeling attached to comparison is dark and heavy, like a black cloak of envy placed on the one being compared. Admiration is a different story, it is appreciative of what someone else has accomplished and the accompanying energetic feeling is sparky and lively, like a technicolor cape placed on the back of the one admired. comparison says "they aren't better than you, why do THEY have what THEY have, YOU should have that to".  Appreciation says "they have earned what they have, I like it and wonder what I too can do to accomplish what they have accomplished".  While comparison tares down, strips away, Appreciation builds up the other as a model to emulate.  Let's get something straight here~while imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, there still has to be a driving force unique and wonderful inside of each individual, to make whatever they have or have accomplished, their own.  Let's kill comparison with Appreciation for others, comparison has no place in the hearts and minds of the healthy and whole.

Results vs reasons

I heard a cool comparison the other day, you can have Reasons or you can have Results. This is about getting the job done, getting what you said in your head that you wanted, you know, the one big thing you are afraid to say out loud for fear of failure or being held accountable?  Let me explain:  oh, the reason I am not successful is no ones buying right now, everyone is slow, it's a bad time of the year.  Compare this to:  the result of my networking is I have figured out who the tire kickers are and who is serious about my product/services, now I know who to target, who I want to work with.  The money monster reasons wants to keep you excused, this also means checked out from the truth. If success is part of the plan, results are your best friend. I know the difference and so do you, let's not pretend!  Now go out there and get you some results!  One more money monster slayed.

should I?

There is a money monster lurking called should I and he really wants to keep you and I living in the grey of don't choose. Should I or shouldn't I call that prospect?  This is a nice gathering, do I tell people what I do? Should I or shouldn't I charge that fee?  Should I do that now, or can it wait until tomorrow?  If you are a service provider, you are IN SALES!  So here is the thing:  if no one is hiring you, it may be because they don't know what you have to offer; if you aren't getting paid enough, you haven't asked for enough AND, if you want to make it as an entrepreneur, you HAVE to call prospective clients, reach out to your contacts and ASK for the business~if you don't someone else will and I don't know about you but I would be inclined to kicking myself in the butt if that happens.  Should I, yes you should, now go out there and get you some clients, ask for the sale, tell them your fee and start working for yourself, no one else will do it quite as well as you can.

Roaaaaaarrrrr

Roarrrrrrr, this is the sound of those of us that want to call our own shots, take over, run our own lives.  I like the expression "get out of your own way" because when it comes down to the nitty gritty of getting things done, making money, staking a claim for entrepreneurship, it would appear that it's the money monster small that takes over the mind and body that keeps us invisible to our own greatness and as long as this monster has our ear, he, it, keeps US in our own way.  What are you giving and what are you getting?  If the sentiment after service and subsequent payment is that the giving is greater than the getting, than there is a complimentary sentiment of feeling devalued...now whose responsible for THAT?  Entrepreneurs are a breed unto themselves, the successful ones know what their services are worth and the newbies quickly find out and learn from the models of business elegance and finesse, from the already established and learned in their profession.  Feeling small, insecure, go on a seek and find mission, emulate the greats and slay the monster that wants to keep you invisible, the one that doesn't want you to know how great you really are...ROAAAAAAR

Wet blanket & FIRE

I'm trailing a blaze...wait, look, a blazing fire, let me trail through it, let me create a path for you.  These are my friends words, instead of using the phrase trail blazer, she coined her own, trailing a blaze. We laughed at this as this was a far better metaphor in our conversation than the original version. Whether the fire is being followed or being created, there is fire. The money monster wet blanket wants to put the fire out, damper my belief that I can light up the path, have others follow.  He tries to convince me "you are kidding yourself, who would LISTEN to you, let alone follow you...you are NOT that interesting". Damn it yes I AM stupid money monster.  Here's the thing:  sometimes I'm bold, and I am a trail blazer and I welcome others not to follow me, but to come along with me on the adventure;  sometimes I trail the blaze, I follow the flame that has been miraculously lit, the one that summons me to follow.  I'm ok either way, I'm not ok with water or wet blanket trying to smother me to smouldering.  Here's what I'll do to you wet blanket...I'll hang you out to dry and than when my fire burns low, I'll chuck you on there to jack the flames back up again.  Take that money monster, burn.  I love you HELENA BUGLER!

Nervousness

Named must your fear be before banish it you can. — YODA, from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.  Yoda had a point and I will add to his wisdom that naming your fears is the first courageous step toward concurring them. Deciding they aren't the boss of me is really the point and in tandem,  what will I do to be the master of my own destiny, what steps am I willing to take to be fearless?   Thinking, feeling, sorting, understanding, they are all great, whippy, what are you going to DO about all that touchy feely thought stuff?  What is it costing you financially, emotionally, and physically to postpone action?  When I was in high school, I had a really amazing realization.  When speaking to a boy I thought was cute, I wondered what he thought of me, did he like me too, was I cute to him?  Nervousness would rule the day when in company of the appealing opposite sex until I realized this:  chances are, he was thinking what I was thinking, he was wondering what I thought of him too!  Fast forward many adult years and nervousness still rules, for most people.  Concern for what others think, how they will be perceived, whether or not they will mess up by speaking or doing or giving their opinion or more importantly, asking for the sale. Yikes, this is epidemic in proportion. It's a waiting game and no ones making bold moves and those that do, they win because they have figured out that nothing will break in fact they have everything to gain by asking for what it is they want.  What do you want to ask for?  Stop thinking about it, ask, the other person can always say no OR, they may just surprise you with a YES.  Banish it I did, once naming it I had, nervousness be gone. 

Chameleon

The money monster chameleon wants us to hide, take cover, go unnoticed to protect us from...what?  For a preditor perhaps a chameleon is a deliscious snack or meal, who's snack will you or I be if we stay true to ourselves, stay in own skin, let others see our true colours? It's safe being unseen, it means no one expects much from the hider, and the hidden, they get to survive another day and hey, who am I to judge? If survival is the goal, then hiding seems to be a reasonable plan...blending in so no one notices what you are or aren't doing, that's great when anonymity is the desired outcome. Conform and live another day, that's what the monster wants us to believe.  He wants us to think that we are average, mediocre, nothing special, that by not getting eaten, we should be thankful at the end of the day.  I really hate being compared to a lizard, I don't have a "reptilian brain", good God I am sick to death of fitting in, aren't you?  Oh money monster, you are green with envy, you have inability, because you cannot create in me conformity, and I slay you.

Clarity

Clarity is an ultimate goal and that's why determining what I want is more important than any other step along the way in shaping and forming my business.  What I want is highly motivated make no excuses take no prisoners clients.  To get this type of client, I have to have these qualities and I'm cashing in on the idea that like attracts like. While I don't want to jump into a box and be defined by square lines and flat surfaces, I do have to be clear about what I do, what my offering is, how I attract and maintain a client base.  I have learned I am a helper, in more bold terms, I help others see their own power, the influence they naturally have and I encourage them to utilize their power and influence for the betterment of THEIR clients, their family members or co-workers.  I am an attractor,    this means that my business comes energetically, in other words through referral or relationship...websites do not appeal to me, nor does marketing~call me and we can talk, that's my way and I like it.  The money monster haze would like to see fussy lines around who I think I am.  He would like to keep me farsighted, not see clearly what and who I am, what I want and am naturally inclined toward. Clarity gets me, and you, closer to the clients and work we are meant for.  Get clear today, clients are waiting for you.

Unlimited

I heard somewhere that a fish will grow to the commensurate size of the tank they swim in.  I looked this up and discovered that if a fish stops growing, it is because growth has been "stunted" do its living conditions. The myth is perpetuated when a fish is moved to a bigger tank and has a growth spurt~the explanation for the growth is that the fish may very well be taking advantage of the better living conditions and this positively impacts their health and subsequent growth.  Where am I going with this, you ask?  I ask you:  Is your financial growth stunted?  What is the size of your tank and in what conditions are you living?  Fish have the ability to continually grow and this brings me to you, to me, to growth. We are not unlike fish, we have the same expansive abilities. There is no limit unless of course, it is self imposed?  The money monster limited wants us to believe that we can only have so much, go so far, or better put, grow so far. I have seen big fat overgrown gorgeous looking goldfish in rather minuscule looking tanks;  I have heard of them jumping out of their tanks too, perhaps they wanted to be free to grow bigger than their puny environment?  Unlimited, that's what I say to the money monster limited, no tank can hold me or you, let's jump out together!

No hesitation

There is the law of sowing and reaping, the important part of this equation is what are you sowing?  Being an entrepreneur means I must, of necessity, plant seeds in the hearts minds and dare I say souls, of my potential clients.  What are these seeds and how do I go about planting?  The money monster hesitation wants me to experience trepidation, wants me to stutter start, to hesitate, and we all know the saying, he who hesitates is lost. The kick ass truth is if I want my business to grow and thrive, I have to plant seeds all over the place, everywhere I go, not with hope, with confidence, that this will generate interest in my work, my offering and ultimately, with generate income. I know what I'm good at, why would I want to keep it a secret?  What would keep me from my work, when I have a job to do, to do well?  Being a shameless self promoter of my services doesn't make me cocky, it means I'm confident.  I have done the work and earned the right to earn the fees I charge. It's that good, that simple and I will not hesitate for any monster that tries to hold me back.

Working for wealth

There may very well be a formula for success, some would call it hard work, whatever that means. I recall reading about millionaires, the quiet ones who remained modest in lifestyle, who earned their money doing one thing really well and stayed with that one thing because they were good at it and "it" was something other people benefitted from.  Their wealth was accumulated over a span of years and consistency was an undeniable element, a factor in the success formula.  If I back up one sentence, I see the part where I wrote other people benefitted from it, meaning the goods or serves. If I back up further in the sentence, I see the part where it says they were good at whatever it is they were doing.  If the rewards, in this case wealth, was the horse and the service or product was the cart, this formula would not work.  What can I do for you, that is the question, as opposed to how can I make money from you...this distinction is clear and clients know intention before words are ever spoken.  The monster success would have us work for wealth, I work for clients, take that money monster.